1954 Masters Tournament

1954 Masters Tournament
Front cover of the 1954 Masters Guide
Tournament information
DatesApril 8–12, 1954
LocationAugusta, Georgia
33°30′11″N 82°01′12″W / 33.503°N 82.020°W / 33.503; -82.020
Course(s)Augusta National Golf Club
Organized byAugusta National Golf Club
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Length6,800 yards (6,220 m)
Field78 players
CutNone
Prize fund$25,000
Winner's share$5,000
Champion
Sam Snead
289 (+1), playoff
Location map
Augusta National
Location in the United States
Augusta National
Location in Georgia

The 1954 Masters Tournament was the 18th Masters Tournament, held April 8–12 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Sam Snead defeated defending champion Ben Hogan by one stroke in an 18-hole Monday playoff to win his third Masters tournament. It was Snead's seventh and final major victory.

Both Snead and Hogan were age 41, and they had won the previous three Masters; Snead in 1952 and Hogan in 1951 and 1953. Hogan was also the reigning champion of the U.S. Open and British Open; he did not win another major, but often contended until his final appearances in 1967 at the Masters and U.S. Open.

Snead's 289 (+1), along with Jack Burke Jr. in 1956 and Zach Johnson in 2007, remains the highest winning total in Masters history. Amateur Billy Joe Patton, 31, led after the first and second rounds and during the fourth, but a seven at the 13th hole and a six at the 15th ended his title hopes, and he finished one stroke back.[1][2]

Snead remained the oldest winner of the Masters for nearly a quarter century, until Gary Player won his third green jacket at age 42 in 1978.

Field

1. Masters champions

Jimmy Demaret (10), Claude Harmon (12), Ben Hogan (2,4,6,9,10), Byron Nelson (2,6), Gene Sarazen (2,4,6), Horton Smith, Sam Snead (4,6,7,9,10), Craig Wood (2)

2. U.S. Open champions

Julius Boros (9,10), Lawson Little (3,5), Lloyd Mangrum (7,9,10), Fred McLeod, Cary Middlecoff (7), Sam Parks Jr., Lew Worsham

3. U.S. Amateur champions

Dick Chapman (5,8,a), Charles Coe (8,9,a), Gene Littler (8,11), Billy Maxwell, Skee Riegel, Jess Sweetser (5,a)

4. British Open champions

Jock Hutchison (6), Denny Shute (6)

5. British Amateur champions

Frank Stranahan (9,10,a), Robert Sweeny Jr. (a), Harvie Ward (8,9,a)

6. PGA champions

Walter Burkemo (7,12), Jim Ferrier (9), Vic Ghezzi, Chandler Harper (9), Johnny Revolta, Jim Turnesa (7,10)

7. Members of the U.S. 1953 Ryder Cup team

Jack Burke Jr. (9,10), Dave Douglas (12), Fred Haas (10), Ted Kroll (9,10), Ed Oliver (9)

8. Members of the U.S. 1953 Walker Cup team

Arnold Blum (a), William C. Campbell (a), Don Cherry (a), Jimmy Jackson (a), Jim McHale Jr. (a), Billy Joe Patton (a), Ken Venturi (a)

9. Top 24 players and ties from the 1953 Masters Tournament

Jerry Barber, Al Besselink, Tommy Bolt, Doug Ford (10), Leland Gibson, Chick Harbert, Fred Hawkins, Dick Mayer, Al Mengert (10), Dick Metz (10), Johnny Palmer, Earl Stewart

10. Top 24 players and ties from the 1953 U.S. Open

Pete Cooper, Gardner Dickinson, Clarence Doser, George Fazio, Marty Furgol, Dutch Harrison, Jay Hebert, Bill Nary (12), Bill Ogden, Bob Rosburg, Frank Souchak (a)

11. 1953 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists

Don Albert (a), Bruce Cudd (a), Bobby Kuntz (a), Dale Morey (a), Ray Palmer (a), Angelo Santilli (a)

  • Ted Richards Jr. did not play.
12. 1953 PGA Championship quarter-finalists

Jimmy Clark, Jack Isaacs, Felice Torza

13. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions
14. One professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Open champions

Skip Alexander

15. Two players, not already qualified, with the best scoring average in the winter part of the 1954 PGA Tour

Bud Holscher, Bob Toski

16. Foreign invitations

Peter Thomson

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 8, 1954

Place Player Score To par
T1 Billy Joe Patton (a) 70 −2
Dutch Harrison
T3 Lloyd Mangrum 71 −1
Jack Burke Jr.
T5 Ben Hogan 72 E
Dave Douglas
T7 Byron Nelson 73 +1
Bob Rosburg
Chick Harbert
Denny Shute
Tommy Bolt
Vic Ghezzi
Gardner Dickinson
Pete Cooper
William C. Campbell (a)
Cary Middlecoff

Second round

Friday, April 9, 1954

Place Player Score To par
1 Billy Joe Patton (a) 70-74=144 E
2 Ben Hogan 72-73=145 +1
T3 Bob Rosburg 73-73=146 +2
Lloyd Mangrum 71-75=146
T5 Tommy Bolt 73-74=147 +3
Sam Snead 74-73=147
T7 Al Besselink 74-74=148 +4
Lew Worsham 74-74=148
Chick Harbert 73-75=148
Dave Douglas 72-76=148
Jack Burke Jr. 71-77=148
Peter Thomson 76-72=148

Third round

Saturday, April 10, 1954

Place Player Score To par
1 Ben Hogan 72-73-69=214 −2
2 Sam Snead 74-73-70=217 +1
T3 Cary Middlecoff 73-76-70=219 +3
Tommy Bolt 73-74-72=219
Billy Joe Patton (a) 70-74-75=219
T6 Jerry Barber 74-76-71=221 +5
Jack Burke Jr. 71-77-73=221
T8 Al Besselink 74-74-74=222 +6
Lew Worsham 74-74-74=222
Lloyd Mangrum 71-75-76=222
Bob Rosburg 73-73-76=222

Final round

Sunday, April 11, 1954

Final leaderboard

Champion
Silver Cup winner (low amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10
Place Player Score To par Money (US$)
T1 Ben Hogan (c) 72-73-69-75=289 +1 Playoff
Sam Snead (c) 74-73-70-72=289
3 Billy Joe Patton (a) 70-74-75-71=290 +2 0
T4 Dutch Harrison 70-79-74-68=291 +3 1,938
Lloyd Mangrum 71-75-76-69=291
T6 Jerry Barber 74-76-71-71=292 +4 1,042
Jack Burke Jr. 71-77-73-71=292
Bob Rosburg 73-73-76-70=292
T9 Al Besselink 74-74-74-72=294 +6 781
Cary Middlecoff 73-76-70-75=294

Sources:[3][4]

Scorecard

Hole  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 4 3 5 4 5 3 4 4
Snead +1 +1 +1 +2 +3 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +2 +2 +1 +1 +1 +1
Hogan −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 −2 −1 −1 −1 −1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +1 +1 +1 +1
Patton +4 +3 +3 +3 +3 +1 +1 E −1 −1 −1 E +2 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2
Harrison +7 +6 +6 +6 +6 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +4 +5 +4 +4 +3 +3
Mangrum +6 +5 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +5 +4 +3 +3

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Playoff

Monday, April 12, 1954

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1 Sam Snead 70 −2 5,000
2 Ben Hogan 71 −1 3,125

Scorecard

Hole  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 4 3 5 4 5 3 4 4
Snead E −1 −1 E E −1 −1 −1 −1 −2 −2 −1 −2 −2 −3 −3 −3 −2
Hogan E −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −2 −1 −1 −1

Source:[5]

References

  1. ^ "Hogan, Snead tie in Masters golf". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). United Press. April 12, 1954. p. 2B.
  2. ^ "Snead, Hogan play off in Masters today". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. April 12, 1954. p. 18.
  3. ^ "Masters – Past Winners & Results". Augusta National Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  4. ^ "Past results – Masters tournament". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  5. ^ "Snead beats Hogan in Masters playoff". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 13, 1954. p. 16.